Never Alone in This
by Genne
Summary: During the Year that Never Was, Martha had a bit of help getting the word out.
1. Greyhound Leader

**Disclaimer: BBC owns characters, but Savannah (aka, 'random nonsense' aka, 'the chibis are stalking me') owns the plotline. It comes from her 'What if's…' fics, (which are a **_**fantastic**_** read) chapter 101, Not Alone in this. **

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He tried to shift from his already uncomfortable position into a better one without much success, considering the little amount of space in the basement where he was trying to sleep. But sleep was just as impossible to get as safety, with the Toclafane blasting people to smithereens all over the world. Yes, he'd lost his power to sleep ever since he'd seen his children and his two grandchildren explode right in front of him… 

Suddenly the basement seemed even more cramped than before. He made to stand right when he heard someone nearby speak. Normally, this wouldn't have fazed him at all, especially not now, but two words stood out clearly to him.

"The Doctor,"

His head snapped around quickly, seeking out the speaker. She was sitting at a table talking to a few of the other people who had taken refuge in the shoddy little hole in the ground, and the moment he'd spotted her, her eyes met with his, her surprise at his attention apparent on her face. She stopped speaking as she watched him stride towards her.

"What did you say?" he asked, his voice coming out harder than he'd expected. "Please, you must tell me."

She blinked before taking a breath and starting over. The Doctor and his heroism (he grinned and asked her to skip over that bit). Saxon and his take-over (he couldn't help but puff up with pride that he hadn't so much as considered 'Voting Saxon'). And finally, The Master; his laser screwdriver, and her mission to spread the word about the Doctor.

"The Master," he snorted and shook his head, "Should've known, has his name all over it."

The young woman glances at him, quizzically. He looked right back at her, her eyes shining with a youth he'd almost forgotten. She was clearly sharp, the kind he would've recruited back in the old day. And she had one damn good backbone (not to mention persistence) to do what she'd been doing for the Doctor. "What did you say your name was again, my dear?"

She smiled, "Martha, Martha Jones."

"It's been a pleasure meeting you, Ms Jones. Now if you don't mind, this old Greyhound has a mission and a story to tell, good day." He tipped an imaginary hat and walked away.

* * *

Night fell and he sat in a corner, a piece of battered looking machinery placed carefully in his lap. His concentration was so focused on making sure that every knob and wire was moved in just the right way, that he almost missed the sound of someone trying to address him. 

"Excuse me?"

"A minute," he grumbled, and pressed a thin needle across the slightly rounded part of metal right at the top of the dark box, it made a small beeping noise. He smiled in satisfaction and looked up, it was her. "Yes, Ms Jones? Is there anything I can assist you with?"

She seemed to hesitate a little and looked over shoulder quickly at the rest of the sleeping figures on the ground before turning back to him.

"I'm sorry, I just didn't catch your name earlier." she said quietly and sat on the ground with him.

"Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, at your service." He said with a proud smile and a small bow of his head. She smiled as he took her outstretched hand and kissed it. "And you Ms Jones have given me a great deal of hope. I'll do my best to spread the word around." He tapped the device in his lap.

"Well, Sir, if you don't mind me asking, you seemed to have known what I meant when I mentioned the Doctor and the Master earlier, not many people do…" she didn't seem quite sure how to end her sentence. He smiled at her; he knew what she wanted before even she did, just some companionship.

"I know quite a bit about both of them, Ms Jones. In fact it may be of interest to you to know that the Doctor worked for me for a few years."

If he hadn't been so tired, he would have laughed at her facial expression. Her lovely eyes grew wider and she actually dropped her jaw a little. "No way, seriously? He actually worked?"

"Well, for UNIT, if you want to be more specific." Her forehead wrinkled. "You've never heard of UNIT, Ms Jones?" she shook her head. He sat up a little straighter and began to tell a little bit of his own story… "United Nations Intelligence Taskforce, otherwise known as UNIT. We're a military organization, in case the title wasn't clear enough-"

She giggled a little; he was glad that he was able to make _someone_ smile at such a horrible time. "Our purpose is to investigate the extraterrestrial and if needed, go into combat to defend Earth against any alien threat."

"But I thought that was Torchwood's job," she said suddenly. The Brig raised an eyebrow and shook his head.

"No, Torchwood's motto is more around the lines of 'shoot first, investigate later'." He said in a gruff tone, he'd never been fond of Torchwood. "I don't usually like to speak like this Ms Jones, but Torchwood is so full of self-important hoo-ha's, who did nothing but try to steal our research for years then suddenly started blasting ships out of the sky without any warning and without consulting anyone. They're main purpose was set with the Doctor as their number one target."

"What? You mean as an enemy?" Martha asked, dumbfounded.

"Oh, why yes, Ms Jones. But I believe that they've redirected their goals after the horrible incident at Canary Wharf. The End of the World was near and we had them to thank for it. Well, I'm sure they must be happy that this time it's not their fault."

Martha seemed a little shocked by this information, so the Brigadier waited until she'd closed her mouth before continuing. "We've caught them attempting to get information about the Doctor from our files more than once, luckily they didn't get much."

"Why?"

"Because when the Doctor worked as our scientific advisor, it wasn't documented. It was a mutual favor, allowing him to work at UNIT. You see, Ms Jones, his people weren't happy with him at the time, and we needed to advance our research. Therefore, he lived at UNIT HQ, seeing as his Tardis was also a little faulty at the time, and we were able to have a fantastic scientific advisor. So you see, win-win, Ms Jones. But after his fourth regeneration we saw less and less of him, sometimes I still miss the old dog…" he finished fondly.

"Old dog?"

"mm, you must be with one of his young regenerations, eh? How old does he look now?"

"About thirty five,"

He grunted in response and returned his attention back to the metal box in his lap as the small beeping changed its tempo slightly. Martha watched him closely as he set about pressing a few more buttons and rewiring a small part of it.

"There we go," he said, "should be ready to transmit in a few moments."

"What is it?" Martha looked the box interested. The old man smiled and opened the side of the box, pulling out an old fashioned ear and mouth piece of a phone.

"Communication device," he said happily.

"But I thought that all lines of transmission had been cut!"

"Ah, yes, well you see Ms Jones, another reason why Torchwood doesn't get on too well with us at UNIT is because they find us old fashioned."

Martha laughed quietly, so that she wouldn't wake anyone. "Guess old fashioned can come in handy, though."

"It most certainly does, Ms Jones. And this device here will hopefully be linking me to an old friend of mine who will be more than pleased to hear that the Doctor is still alive. She'll also make sure that your message gets spread around, I promise you."

"But how does it work? Isn't it monitored by the Arch Angel network?"

"Heavens no, no, very few people have this link. This was given to me by the Doctor, you see, it was used to call him whenever we needed him, but he broke link between us and him. Now the woman whom I am trying to reach has a… well, a robot given to her as a gift by the Doctor as well, and through that I am able to contact her. But it takes nearly half an hour to find her and fifteen minutes before it can actually get through to her, but no one ever said that avoiding the Master was going to be an easy task now, did they?"

Her smile was bright and cheerful one, something he'd _definitely_ not seen ever since he'd come underground. "How long do you think you can stay here, Ms Jones?"

She looked tiered all of a sudden and frowned, he was sorry he'd even brought it up. "Not too long, one more day, at the most. I have to keep on the move."

He nodded understandingly, "Well, another old friend of mine, also at UNIT, is trying to get his niece here to keep her safe. But we lost contact with them a few days ago, however he did say that some food was going to arrive by tomorrow evening. You'll be able to leave from here with them; they'll keep you safe and be able to get you as far as the docks."

"Thank you, Sir. That'd be brilliant!" She rubbed her eyes wearily, but smiled at him all the same.

"Well then Ms Jones, I'm glad to be of some help after the wonderful news you've just been kind enough to share with me. Best get some sleep though, you need your rest. I assure you that that pile of dirt right there is the most comfortable spot." He said nodding to a clear space on the ground not too far away from where they were sitting. She giggled and again and nodded, then stood up.

"Good Night Brigadier,"

"Sleep well, Martha Jones. And you know what?" she turned and looked at him, shaking her head in response. "If we survive this, I'd be more than happy to have someone like you join UNIT, if you're interested."

She smiled again and nodded enthusiastically. "That'd be nice, I'll see what I'm doing once it's all over." They both laughed a little, just then the beeping grew steadily louder. Martha looked at it then waved her hand '_goodnight_' as she made her way to the patch of ground. The Brigadier quickly picked up the earpiece and pressed it to his ear as a familiar voice made its way through,

_"Greyhound?"_

"Yes, Ms Smith, it's me."

_"Is everything alright, Brig?" _

"Oh everything's looking up, Ms Smith,"

_"Oh? Since when?"_

"Sarah Jane, you might want to take a seat. I have some news that I'm sure will be of great interest to you."

_"I'm all ears, Alistair."_

"Jolly-good, well, today a young woman by the name on Martha Jones…"

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**A/N: Awwww, who doesn't love the Brig??!! Bring back Courtney before he kicks the bucket!! He was so awesome, anyone who hasn't seen an episode with him has got to check out the old stuff. He's sooo Old-school-cool! Anyways, next chapter should be up soon! Hope you liked it! **


	2. His Sarah Jane

**Disclaimer: BBC, yeah, thanks for painfully reminding us. As for the actual idea Go read "What if's" chapter 101!!!!! (whip crack)**

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Years ago, she had been asked to describe her life in one word. Simple really, but when she trued to come up with a single word, nothing came to mind. Her life was anything but consistent, therefore, impossible to pin-point in just one word. It wasn't until one day, when a friend of hers was talking about a rollercoaster ride he'd agreed to get on with his niece, that she realized that that was the perfect word for her; Rollercoaster. The ups, the downs, the thrilling loops and twists, the stomach churning plunges… they all referred to the many events that strung her life together. Such as meeting the Doctor for the first time, getting the chance to travel in the Tardis, becoming close friends with many of the UNIT officers, The Doctor regenerating, sharing the Tardis and the Doctor with Harry, and then being unceremoniously dropped back on earth on day. She wasn't sure she'd ever forgive him until she met him again, new face, new companion… although she was heartbroken by the entire situation, it was also a chance for her to start a fresh. And she did begin a new life, with a son. Alien grown, of course, but Luke was the best thing o ever happen to her. With him and their new friend Maria, they were able to do what she and the Doctor had always done!

And everything had been fine, wonderful in fact. Then came the elections and two days later … she received a phone call from an old friend that sent a chill down her spine …

_"Ms Smith, get out of the public eye, as fast as you can."_

_"Brigadier? What's the matter?"_

_"People are being targeted, Ms Smith, specific people. And I'm sure you're one of them. I know you're in __South America__, but be careful!"_

_"Brig, honestly, you're being silly, what's going on?"_

The Brigadier wasn't usually one to panic, but he sounded extremely worried.

_"Sarah Jane, Mike Yates was attacked; he got his family out but hasn't been heard from since. Benton said that his sister and her husband had been killed while waiting for him to return to his home with his niece, Harry had to switch ships over at the south docks after he got news that he was being looked for! I think we all know what this is about Ms Smith, get into hiding. I'll be in touch through K-9."_

And then he hung up. She was speechless and worried, her eyes wandered over to Luke who had been playing ball with the local children. Two hours later she had them in a secure area, hidden away near a deep green. Luke had been quite the whole way there and she wasn't sure if she was relieved by that or worried. But the silence didn't last long, unlike the time it took for her to answer him once he'd asked what was happening.

It was late afternoon; they had just finished eating when she asked him to sit down instead of clearing off the table.

"Luke, remember that friend of mine that I mentioned? The Doctor?"

He nodded understanding.

"Well, I just received a call from the Brigadier, the man from UNIT? Yes, well, he gave me some very disturbing news about some people I know, and it looks like we're linked by the same things, we knew the Doctor and the Brigadier is worried that I'm going to be targeted. So he told me to get someplace safe and stay out of sight, you understand?"

His dark eyes warmed, making her smile as he clasped a hand tightly over hers and allowed his glow of innocence to engulf over his young face. "Always."

At that moment she was reassured. For now.

Days later the Toclafane were released, thousands died on the first day alone. Luckily, she hadn't actually seen any during her time, hidden away in the jungle. The Brigadier kept in touch, making sure that she was moving form place to place, and giving her any updates…if any. She thought of the Doctor often during those months, hoping against hope that he would appear and save the world again, but as the weeks passed it was looking less likely. Finally, three months after the first attack, K-9 said that she was about to receive a call. It was the Brigadier again. He told her about Martha Jones and the Master… when the call ended, she was filled with and unspeakable scene of purpose and hope. Her fingers combed through Luke's hair, whose head was asleep on her lap. In the morning she was getting out of the jungle. She was going to help in any way that she could. A smile spread across her lips, Martha Jones was not going to have to do it all alone.

* * *

Martha Jones blinked in surprise. "You know what I'm going to say? About the Doctor?"

A young woman nodded seriously, "Yes, it's been in the papers, all the stories about him… we know about you too, Martha Jones."

"Wait a minute, you said it was in the papers? How's that possible?"

"Uhm, excuse me…" Martha looked around, a middle-aged woman was approaching her, her hand outstretched and a smile of admiration in place. "My name is Smith, Sarah Jane Smith. I'm the journalist who's been writing the stories about the Doctor, and it's a pleasure to meet you Martha." She shook Martha's hand, and observed her quietly. Martha's response was not quite what she had anticipated…

"What do you mean you've been publishing stories? What have you been saying about him?" her tone was almost accusatory, Sarah was trying her best not to be offended and pulled Martha aside.

"I believe you met the Brigadier back in England, am I right?" Martha narrowed her eyes, but the rest of her body relaxed considerably. "Yeah, why?"

"After he spoke to you, he called me and told me about your mission."

Martha's mouth formed a small 'o' and she uncrossed her arms. "yeah, I remember! He said he was trying get in touch with someone!"

"That would've been me," Sarah said with a smile, " so after that I left my hiding place in the jungle and spoke with the local newspaper. They agreed to let me have a small column that I could use to let people know about the Doctor and your message, but falsely titled, so that the Master would miss it."

Martha looked impressed. "How'd you manage it?"

Sarah grinned proudly, "he struck me as being arrogant enough that the last thing he'd do would be reading a 'Classifieds' page in a South American newspaper."

Martha laugh, relief spreading swiftly through her. "That's brilliant! How far spread is the news?"

Sarah gave Martha a pat on the shoulder and led her towards a food filled table. "Let's just say that you should be able to rest for a few days and won't have to do much talking within a five hundred mile radius. And trust me Martha, when the time comes, I'll have as many people gathered around me as I possibly can."

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**a/n: Oh…my…that is the **_**worst**_** writing I have **_**ever**_** done! I tried about a dozen times and I just can't write Sarah!!!!!! ****Meh****, I promise that the rest will be better! I think Grace is up next…she should be easier. Oh and btw, I wanted to ask you guys…how many of you have watched 'The Green Death'? and what did you think of it? ****okthanxbi**


	3. The Doctor's Doctor

**Disclaimer: ****nooope****, no change from the previous chapter…**

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_"Damn it!" _

She muttered under her breath while she wiped up the coffee she'd just spilled. She wasn't upset by the mess she had just made, but by the fact that the last of the hospital coffee supply was now on the ground and she would have to find some other way to keep herself awake. Three on-calls in a row had done nothing to help her nerves either way…that was, if they could still be called on-calls. The hospitals constant need of medical help had practically caused her to move to the hospital. Doctors had gone missing recently, people where coming in at alarming numbers at a time…everything was in a state of chaos.

And all this after Saxon had taken over and brought the mass murdering Toclafane with him. She herself was having troubles and bouts of dreadful news of her own, after receiving a call telling her that her father had died, then her first steady boyfriend in years was in the ICU two floors above her, after having his lower body crushed under the rubble of a building that had exploded nearby, she was hardly any better off than the dozens of people she was bandaging up almost daily. But she'd done her best to keep her head, which was an enormous feat considering her current situation, after large numbers of the staff went missing (or were killed) she had been put in charge of more than just her surgery ward, now she was minding the ER and the general wards. Then hospitals began to shut down all over the country, it was under her influence that theirs remained opened and running…no matter how dire the circumstances were.

It wasn't until having had only thirty-five minutes of sleep in the last three days, finding that her boyfriend hadn't improved at all, and two of her patients dying, that she spilled her coffee and began to cry for the first time since she'd heard the news about her father. She stopped mopping up the spilled coffee with the saturated paper towel and crawled over to the reception desk. She pulled her knees up to her face and wearily placed her heavy head in her weak palms. She was tired, so very tired, and she was trying her best to keep fighting…but nothing was helping. Nothing was getting better and no one (she gulped back more tears) was going to help her this time. Suddenly, she heard someone talking in front of the empty reception desk where she was sitting, one of her patients…

"You know what I heard? There's this man, called the Doctor," the voice became high pitched and she inched closer to the side of the desk to hear the voice clearer. "I heard he got kidnapped by this guy who calls himself 'The Master',"

Her eyes grew wide and her heart jumped to her throat.

"yeah, so?"

"Well, the Master is suppose to be Saxon! The English guy who's doing all this to us and killed President Snow!"

"And he calls himself, the Master?" the other voice scoffed, "who on Earth calls themselves that?! I mean, talk about egotistical!"

"Yeah well…they're not suppose to be from Earth…"

"Oh come on, get a grip…"

"No! Seriously! And from what I hear, he's taken the Doctor guy and aged him like, a zillion years or something…but there's one way we can help save him!"

She pulled her hair behind her ears quickly and leaned closer, not noticing the coffee staining her wrinkled lab coat.

"Lemme guess," said the other voice, sarcasm oozing. "we all cross our hearts and chant "I do believe in fairies! I do! I do!"

Here, she almost laughed.

"well..kinda'" there was a laugh from the other person while the first continued. "All we have to do is say his name, 'Doctor'!"

"- and then what? Gandalf will appear and fix the sky while Jesus himself glows bright and saves the day?"

"I don't know! But I do know that we have to say it at a certain time…"

"Oh yeah? When?"

She rested her head against the desk and listened to him tell the story, her eyes closed, but she was alert as ever. Each word filling her with hope and purpose, everything she'd swiftly been losing over the last year. A kind of resolve struck her; that every single one her patients was going to hear this story whenever they came to see her. She'd help with the fight in any way she could, because there was always a bigger picture, he'd taught her that much… the story ended suddenly and she rubbed her face and stood up, coming out from behind the desk slowly.

"Mr. Lee? I can see you now."

The young man stood up and walked towards her, his face bruised and his arm needed re-bandaging. "always awesome to see you too Dr. Holloway."

She smiled and ushered for him to follow her.

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**A/N: (sigh) MUCH better! Don't cha think? I feel a ****helluva**** a lot better about this one…****fewh****. Hope you guys liked it, and please don't be stingy about reviewing! I need to know that people are still reading this and enjoying it! Oh and I still need some answers about 'The Green Death' Jo's chapter will be coming up soon…(special thanks to ****Soreye**** for her lovely reviews!!)**


	4. Still a soldier

**Disclaimer: am I the only one who's getting bored of saying that they don't own sh!t? blach, on with the fic….**

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He looked blankly out the window, a small glimmer of thought barely visible in his eyes. He was rigid and almost hadn't felt his wife's soft, petite hand cover his, he finally blinked and smiled at her, squeezing her hand tightly.

"They've found us, haven't they?" she asked quietly, nudging his shoulder with her chin affectionately. He nodded then glanced back out the window, narrowing his eyes. With his free hand he tapped the windowsill, but stopped abruptly and pulled his wife closer, as though warming her from a non-existent chill. "The Brig said that the tunnel would be cleared by now." He said suddenly, not looking at her.

Her head snapped up suddenly, "Did he?"

He nodded again, "I believe so." He paused. "Wake Matthew, the shaft is probably the only hope we have left."

She stood with him until he looked down and her and smiled reassuringly, regardless of their likely assassination that was zooming towards the house while they stood there, holding each other like nothing was wrong. She gave him a swift peck on the cheek then walked towards the sofa that bore her sleeping son.

"Matthew," she bent over him and shook his shoulder, not noticing her husband lean over the window frame and close his eyes, a beaten man. The Youngman rubbed his eyes and squinted to make out the figure of his mother in the darkness of the room.

"What is it, Mum?" he grumbled, sitting up sleepily, hair flat on one side from where he'd been resting his head.

"It's time to go sweetheart." She said pulling him up from the sofa. He towered over her and looked at her in disbelief. "Why? We just got here yesterday!"

"They've found us they'll be here soon."

His eyes widened but his jaw was tightly held shut.

"C'mon, love, 'round back." She took her son's hand and led him out of the room. Her husband followed, he was the only one who knew just how slim their chances were the moment he left the room. As soon as they turned the corner to the hallway, their steps quickened and before they knew it, they were running. They finally reached the broom closet. The older man reached to open it. Inside was the classic, 'spy movie' elevator…but lower budget as some would say- it was more a airshaft, to be frank. He quickly knocked the brooms and mop out of the way, and yanked the metal grating out of the wall, revealing an uncomfortable looking square tunnel.

"What's this doin' here?" Matthew asked, incredulously. His mother turned to him and explained while her husband programmed the destination into the small control inside. "It's a kind of elevator tunnel that goes sideways, bit like a train; it'll transport us somewhere safe. UNIT put it here while you were at University."

"But I thought we were safe now! You heard that thing about that Jones girl! Tomorrow everything will be alright! Why do we need to go?"

Before anyone could answer him, there was the sound of glass breaking coming from the room they'd been in. They all looked around, alarmed.

"There you go, there's your answer. Now get in Matthew." The man said, and tried to remain as calm as usual. Matthew clambered in and pulled his knees up to his chest to make room. His mother was about to take her husband's helping hand to get in when she noticed the problem, the shaft was too small, it had been built for two. She stared at her husband, terrified. Words failed her as she read his eyes. He'd known, known that it would only take two and he hadn't told her so that she wouldn't object to what he was about to do until it was too late.

"No!" she wailed, the sound of walls being smashed in the search for them only added to her state of hysteria. He placed a firm hand on her shoulder. "Dear, you are know that there is no other way. Now, don't waste time. Here, I'll give you a hand; it's a bit high for you…"

She couldn't breath. Why did he always have to do this? He was going to die and yet, he was so calm. "No! She repeated, screaming this time. His face hardened at her response. "I'm not leaving you again!" she continued "I'm not going to just let you stay here and die!"

Another wall was being blown out of the way, causing her husband to look away momentarily then back at her, his face determined. Swiftly, so as not to give her a chance to react, he swooped down and kissed her fiercely. The wanted effect took place, she was stunned. People had told her that marrying him wasn't a good idea, that compared to her previous husband, he was wooden, boring… _bland_. But she knew him for these moments, except, he wasn't the kind to usually show the depth of his emotions unless they were in the security of someplace private, which they hadn't been for the last year. She was so immersed, so happy for a moment amidst all the madness and chaos and destruction, that she didn't feel him lift her off her feet. She didn't notice Matthew trying to make as much room for her as possible as her husband placed her in there, next to her son. But she did feel him break the kiss, and watched him look away from her. She was dazed and confused as he pulled the grating back over the hole, without a word.

She was screaming again, even though she couldn't hear herself, she knew that she was. Her throat ripped with effort telling him to stop being an idiot, to get out, that she just barely heard him whisper to her;

"I love you, I always have. I told you I'd always take care of you and Matthew, please don't make me out to be a traitor again, especially not to my own words, stay safe."

Her mouth hung open as her body wracked with sobs, Matthew held her in the tight space and look out of the grating.

"I love you too…Dad."

He turned and looked Matthew right in the eye; his face the most obvious Matthew had ever seen it, aglow with the deepest happiness at this declaration. He was amazed that the boy who'd refused to call his step-father anything but Captain or even his first name for years, had just filled him up with the most fulfilling joy he could've ever felt, it was a cruel twisted fate that it had to take the impending death of one of them to bring them together like this. The shaft began to move slowly, Matthew held his mother who was screaming her husband's name at the top of her lungs as the wall behind the said man exploded. That was the last they saw of him before the shaft moved them into darkness and away from their home, and their Captain.

* * *

Matthew watched his mother helplessly from a distance while the old Brigadier tried to comfort her. He hated himself for not being able to say anything, let alone do anything.

"We're all like that when we get here." Matthew looked to his right, a girl a few years younger than him was looking at his mother thoughtfully, pity written all over her face. "You came in through the shafts, who works for UNIT in your family?" her tone hadn't changed as she said this, she merely stated it.

"My step…my Father." He said quietly, and it hurt saying it. He felt like a selfish self-centered bastard for not saying it before. He shut his eyes tightly, trying not to think of the look on his face before they lost sight of him. He hadn't screamed, Matthew noticed, even when the wall exploded behind him, he'd just barley jumped in response to the huge blast. "What about you?" he asked, trying to get his mind of it, though it was proving to be difficult with his mother crying not too far away. "How did you get here?"

"My Uncle," she said fondly, looking at him for the first time with her grey-blue eyes. "I was spending the weekend with him when they attacked. We'd been out buying groceries, to try to trick my mother into thinking that we'd been eating healthy while I was with him." She grinned at this. "Mum and Dad were already at his place to come and pick up, they were killed by the time we got there."

"I'm sorry," Matthew said, he wasn't very good at this kind of thing.

"Not your fault though, is it? So my uncle tried to get into his shaft, but the tunnel was blocked, so we had to run for it. It was hard, but he helped me a lot. Then we heard about Martha Jones, you've heard about that, yeah?" she asked. He nodded.

"Yeah, well, uncle was so happy I though he was gonna' burst! He kept telling me he knew the Doctor, and that the Doctor had gotten rid of the Master more than once, and that this time wasn't going to be any different! He even told me that he'd faced the Master himself a few times, along with the Brigadier over there," she nodded at old man who was now holding his mother while she bit into his sleeve in attempt to muffle her sobs." and a few other people… but that's when it happened."

"What?" Matthew asked, genuinely concerned now. She gulped and looked at the ground, Matthew took her hand instinctively. "They found us, a few days before I got here. My uncle got me to hide; he said he was too big and that they'd find him anyways. He wouldn't listen me when I told him… that was the first time he ever got cross with me. He told me to stay where I was and to be quite, he told me how to get here and to keep my head down." Her eyes were starting to get misty with tears, but her voice was steady, she squeezed on Matthew's hand. "He told me to trust the Doctor, no matter what…and then, then he smiled at me and…they came, they'd been looking for him and they found him. Then right before they…he just- closed his eyes, stood up straight and said "Doctor"…" now she was crying, not like his mother, but enough. Matthew pulled her towards him, seeking a mutual comfort from the loss they had both experienced. They were both exhausted and shaken, so they sat down on the dirt ground. Her crying stopped but he still held her and stroked her shoulder.

"Tomorrow morning?" she said quietly. He couldn't help but grin at the amount of hope in her voice and at himself. Under usual circumstances, he would never have held a girl this close without at least knowing her name first, but now wasn't normal. They were beyond that, names weren't important now, names just got you killed. Except the one name that could possibly save them…tomorrow. For now, Matthew would continue to hold her, while she squeezed one of his hands and easily placed her head on his shoulder, as relaxed as either of them could get at that moment.

"Tomorrow morning." He said firmly. Moments later, they were both asleep.

* * *

_She shivered against the cold and buried herself farther into the wooly material of her husband's coat while he held her tighter to him beneath the large leafless tree. They could both just barely hear Matthew's breathing against the still night air while sleeping on the other side of the huge tree trunk. A cold teasing breeze made it's way to them, forcing her to curl her petite hands together and held them between herself and her husband, in the hopes that the combined heat from their bodies might help prevent the bitter cold winds from causing her to lose any more feeling in her body as it was. This gesture did not go unnoticed by him. He pursed his lips in anger. He hated seeing her like this, and him unable of lighting a simple fire to keep her warm. After all, they couldn't risk it. They had almost been caught near the borders of Amsterdam and just barely got away, with only a few minor injuries. They later found themselves near the outskirts of a town somewhere south and decided to rest. _

_Matthew had fallen asleep the moment he had his traveling sheet laid out on the ground as his now-familiar known bed. They, on the other hand, hadn't found sleep quite as easily. That had been the closest they had ever been to being captured while on their mission to help spread the word, and it worried them. Nothing was said for the longest time, both minds despairing at the thought of not complete ling the mission._

_"Do you think we've made a difference?" she said quietly while carefully pulling his hand - that had been injured during the attack- towards her chest and gently rubbed where his hand was a painful dark shade of purple. He couldn't help but give a small smile at her gesture, "Of course we are why you don't think so?" _

_She shrugged in his arms and made a small noise of disbelief. _

_"Oh you know we are!" he reprimanded her, chuckling softly. "Even back in the old days, the Doc couldn't handle things all on his own, as much as he would have liked for us all to believe he could… he always needed the team to back him up, didn't he? Well it's just as true now as it ever was. I don't care if he has changed his face again by now; he's still the same old chap in the end. And we can't let that poor young woman do all the work alone, can we?"_

_"I know __that__!" she said in a defensive tone, jabbing his hand reproachfully. "I know __why__ we decided to do this…I'm just worried that we haven't done enough…"_

_He smiled and kissed her head. "Now dear, if it hadn't been for us, do you think Ms Jones would've even known about that little village south of France?"_

_She shook her head, "No, they said they hadn't heard anything about the Doctor or Martha."_

_He pulled her away from him gently so that he could look at her while he spoke. "Exactly! You see? That's just the point! The poor girl won't be able to go everywhere within one year, it's impossible. And it's the smaller places, that no one knows about that need to be told, just as much as the rest of the world. There are always a fewer number of murders in those sorts of places which also leads to more people than would be expected at one place at a time like this. Just think of how many villages, towns and every underground hideout we've been able to inform that otherwise, would've been clueless when the time came for us all to come together."_

_He tried to smile at her again, urging her to believe that they had made a difference in the world. They both needed to feel it. They owed it to the Doctor. Reassured, she smiled widely at him and kissed him lightly before placing her head on his chest and falling asleep. _

She wasn't crying anymore. She'd run out of tears, as the Brigadier's blouse would confirm. All was quite and dawn was approaching. The day had finally come. Soon, everyone would gather and call for the Doctor. He'd save them all, she knew he would…except…he hadn't. Her thoughts continued to wallow in the memory of leaving her husband behind. He'd been prepared to sacrifice himself many times before ("for the greater good" he would say) only this time, it was permanent. He was dying. Alone, after she'd promised him years ago that he wouldn't. Her body now shook in anger. She'd done her deed; she'd spread the word with husband whilst dragging her son along, she'd lived an honest life, she'd watched her son grow up to be a fine young man who she was sure would join UNIT when it was finally time…

She stood up slowly and maneuvered her way through the many sleeping bodies towards the transportation shaft. Right as she began to set the coordinates a hand grasped her wrist firmly, making her gasp in surprise. When she turned, the two usually mundane dark eyes of the Brigadier were flashing with anger as he looked at her. "What in God's name do you think you are doing?"

She held her chin up and matched his glare. "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm going back home."

"I don't think so, not now Jo."

"With all due respect Brig, I don't care what you think right now. I'm going back for him and that's that."

"You can't do that. There's nothing you can do for him now!" The Brig knew her to do many a reckless thing, but he wasn't going to let her commit another.

"That doesn't matter now, Brig! I can't just stay here in this basement, knowing that he's back there! Dying alone!" she whispered angrily. "You wouldn't understand!" she turned back to the controls only to be stopped by him again.

"I beg you're pardon Jo, but _**I**_ wouldn't understand?" she had gone too far. "I- wouldn't understand. Do you honestly believe that I would rather be down here while knowing that my men are out there, some of them having to follow _his_ orders? You think that I haven't had to hold myself down here with every ounce of self control I posses? After what happened to my family? Doris died while shopping! My son and daughter and grandchildren…right before my eyes and you think I'd rather just remain here?!" he was fuming but his voice had not been raised the entire time. She blinked back tears and spoke in a raspy hushed voice, "Brig, I'm sorry. And I know that you'd rather be out on the frontline of a battlefield any day rather than stay sheltered somewhere. And we both knew that, he and me, he always said "Brig would never ask us to do something he himself wouldn't do". But Brig…it was his idea that we go out and do what we did. We both owed it to the Doctor; he'd changed both our lives for the better. And the same night we got back home they attacked us and now… Brig, please, Matthew is fine. The rest of the world will be fine in a few hours…but I won't be. Please let me go back to him, please." Her large eyes, usually the happiest pairs of eyes he'd ever seen were now pleading and desperate. He slowly lessened his firm grip of her wrist and looked and the ground. "As you see fit." He said in his baritone. He helped her climb into the shaft and finished setting the coordinates for her. "Good Luck, Jo"

She smiled, "Thanks for everything Brig, tell Matthew I love him."

He nodded as the shaft began to creak into movement. As she started to get pulled away through the tunnel, The Brigadier saluted her.

* * *

After what seemed like ages, she finally stopped. She squinted through the daylight that was well risen by now. She shifted and managed to kick the metal grating out of place. She stumbled out of the shaft quickly and fell to the floor. A lump gathered in her throat, the rubble left from the explosion of the wall was everywhere. Her heart raced madly in her chest and she couldn't help but whimper at the sight of an arm protruding from underneath it all. "Oh!" she rushed to the ground and began throwing the bricks and bit's of singed wallpaper aside. Tears were flowing fast and her cries were shaky. "Oh please, oh please…" she cleared most of it off his torso and legs then finally reached his face. "no…" she slowly crawled so that she was sitting behind him and carefully pulled his upper body onto her lap. A shuddering breath escaped her while she gingerly touched his battered face. For moment, while sweeping the dust off of his face lightly, he looked just the way she had seen him when they'd first met. Young, calm and (dare she had thought it at the time) dashing. Even as he lay there in her arms, the reality of his grey hair, slightly wrinkled face and lack of life came crashing down on her. She cried softly into his hair and rocked her body, holding him tightly to her. She stayed like that for a while, even as the sound of a sickening mechanical beeping came closer and asked for her identification, even as it prepared to kill her… she rocked faster and pressed a kiss to her husband's forehead and whispered the name that they'd been speaking of for the longest time…

"Doctor…"

* * *

**Author's Note: GAH! Yay! I finally finished this chapter! Sorry it took so long, I wanted to get it right. I love Jo, I really do and I never believed that she was going to be happy with that hippy, luckily Katy Manning (Jo) agreed, as she stated in an interview, saying that if she were to come back that there was no way jo would've stayed with Cliff so yay for me! Needless to say I liked Mike Yates too, I didn't think I would at first but I did. The back story of how her and Mike got together is from a story that I've had lingering in my mind for a while called "My cup of Tea" that will probably never be released here. I hope you all liked this chapter; I know it was kind of long but I'm quite proud of it. Please leave me a review with your thoughts! **


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